Startek closure in Kingston and severance pay

Over 300 employees will lose jobs as location closes

Startek has closed its Kingston, Ontario office and issued working notice to over 300 employees, according to both Kingstonist and The Whig Standard.

The closure was triggered after Startek lost their only client. Prior to that, the company had moved all employees to remote work due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The call centre company has been in Kingston nearly 20 years.

Mario Baddour, Startek’s global chief operating officer, says that the closure was the result of Ontario’s increased minimum wage and the pandemic.

Anonymous employees say that their severance packages are being based on amounts they would receive through Employment Insurance (EI).

Severance pay for Startek employees

All Startek employees who lose their job must receive proper severance pay. This applies to full-time and part-time workers at the customer service company.

A full severance package is often more than one or two weeks’ pay per year of service, and can be as much as 24 months’ pay. Employees who have worked less than five years at Startek are still entitled to severance pay.

Severance pay (or termination pay) is properly calculated by reviewing many factors, including:

• age
• length of employment
• position
• salary
• bonus
• benefits
• ability to find similar employment

Because the pandemic has made it difficult for individuals to find new employment in many cases, Startek employees may actually be entitled to more generous severance packages.

Employees who have been given notice of termination may be owed additional weeks or months of severance after their termination date.

Some employees who are terminated without cause (or incorrectly terminated for cause) are often given low severance offers. This is commonly known as a wrongful dismissal. Our wrongful dismissal lawyers can review your severance package and ensure that you are getting the proper amount of pay.

Severance offer deadlines

If the severance offer you received from Startek contains a deadline, know that you do not have to accept the offer before the deadline’s expiry. An individual in Canada has two years from the day they were terminated to claim their severance pay. You should not sign off on termination papers until we review your unique situation.

Contact an experienced employment lawyer

Our employment lawyers have helped tens of thousands of Canadians secure proper severance pay. The difference between what you are offered and what we can negotiate could be tens of thousands of dollars.

Use our Pocket Employment Lawyer or Severance Pay Calculator to find out what your rights are.

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